1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bean sprouts-like articles loosening supply device by which various kinds of bean sprouts, cut vegetables, mesclun greens or other slender shape vegetables (all these articles are herein jointly referred to as “bean sprouts-like articles”) are loosened to be supplied.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, the bean sprouts-like articles (i.e., slender vegetables) have indefinite shapes and are easily entangled with each other or biased to become a lump which can hardly be transferred and supplied with a good metering ability in a dispersed state. Also, in the course of making commercial products of the bean sprouts-like articles, the bean sprouts-like articles are washed and refined so that unnecessary matters mixing in the bean sprouts-like articles are removed and water content attaching to the bean sprouts-like articles so washed and refined is separated so that the bean sprouts-like articles can be metered by a predetermined quantity to be packaged. For carrying out the washing and refining of the bean sprouts-like articles and also for carrying out the water separation and metering of them, it is essential that the bean sprouts-like articles are to be supplied in the dispersed state. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, the bean sprouts-like articles are generally easily entangled with each other or biased to become a lump and thus are hardly transferred and supplied with good metering ability in the dispersed state.
For example, in case the bean sprouts-like articles are to be metered by a predetermined quantity to be packaged, in order to accurately carry out the metering, the bean sprouts-like articles are to be uniformly supplied into a metering bucket in the dispersed state so that the timing of reaching a predetermined weight can be accurately detected. Thus, such a technology which allows the bean sprouts-like articles to be loosened in the uniformly dispersed state to be supplied is being demanded.
As examples of conventional technologies for uniformly supplying the bean sprouts-like articles in the dispersed state, there are several ones that have been disclosed by the applicant of the present invention. In particular, there is a technology in which in order for the bean sprouts-like articles to be uniformly supplied into a metering bucket for metering, the bean sprouts-like articles are transferred to be lifted up by a scraping-up conveyor and then are caused to fall down from the scraping-up conveyor onto a loosening device, such as a vibrating plate, a quickly running endless belt, etc., so that the bean sprouts-like articles are applied with loosening actions by the loosening device (Patent Document 1). There is another technology in which the bean sprouts-like articles are transferred to be lifted up by a scraping-up conveyor and loosened as if they are torn at a delivery end of the scraping-up conveyor by a loosening device, such as a roller, an endless belt or the like fitted with needle members, and are caused to fall down in a dispersed state (Patent Document 2). There is another technology in which the bean sprouts-like articles are transferred by a supply conveyor and loosened to achieve a dispersed state by a loosening device comprising a plurality of rotating rolls arranged to be rotated faster than the supply conveyor (Patent Document 3).
In the conventional dispersing technology, however, if the bean sprouts-like articles are fine, small and light weight articles to be easily entangled with each other, such as alfalfa sprouts, there often arises such a case that no sufficient dispersing function can be obtained. Such bean sprouts-like articles are entangled with each other to become a lump state, and even if they are thrown into a water tank, it will often be difficult for them to realize a dispersed floating state. In the bean sprouts-like articles liable to become a lump, if metering is to be done, for example, there arises such a case that they fall down as they are in the lump into a metering bucket of a metering apparatus. In this way, if the bean sprouts-like articles are supplied not in the dispersed state but in s lump, the metering bucket receiving the supplied bean sprouts-like articles cannot accurately detect the timing of reaching a predetermined weight and a metering accuracy will be badly affected.    Patent Document 1: Japanese laid-open patent application No. 1988-152516    Patent Document 2: Japanese laid-open patent application No. 1988-281901    Patent Document 3: Japanese laid-open patent application No. 2002-34537